John Daly: The Biography

Oct 5, 2024 8:27 PM

Author:Gavin Newsham

Legend has it that one of the things you really should see if you're a true golf fan is the swing - the awesome 'killer swing' - of John Patrick Daly.

Rewind to August 1991 and the USPGA Championship at Crooked Stick, Indianapolis. Twenty-five-year-old rookie pro John Daly tees off as an eleventh-hour replacement for Nick Price and blasts his way to a spectacular and entirely unexpected victory.

Now fully updated, Gavin Newsham's award-winning biography examines how that triumph, which, which should have signalled the start of the big time for Daly, instead prompted a shocking descent into alcoholism, gambling addiction and more indidents and accidents than most people encounter in one lifetime - maybe two.

He has been arrested, suspended, and seen his world ranking plummet to 507. Yet, his no-nonsense 'grip it and rip it' philosophy has struck a chord with golf fans the world over and his length off the tee is legendary. 'It's all good because I'm still living,' he shrugs. Despite his trials and tribulations, John Daly remains one of the biggest draws in the game.

Reviews

A rollicking tale of bourbon, blondes and blasted Big Berthas

—— Oberver Sports Monthly

To paraphrase the Wild Thing: grip it and read it

—— Scotland on Sunday

A witty account of Daly's intriguing and controversial life and career

—— Golf Monthly

Newsham paints a picture of a troubled and confused man... a moving and well-written biography

—— Sunday Times

Fittingly gritty

—— Telegraph

A revelatory example of how even the most accomplished of champions constantly battle to mask a troubled soul ... it is a highly readable account of the sacrifices required to really create a champion, in which Calzaghe, the man, comes across engagingly

—— Derby Evening Telegraph

His book is not only the day to day battle with the boredom of training, finding the courage to go one step beyond and an utter dedication to a dream, it is also a tribute to the strength that can be found within a loving family

—— Sunday Express

Trower has the perfect pitch for a sentence that illuminates an entire culture

—— Financial Times

His dedication to finding a spiritual dimension to a lost art is hard to fault

—— Wanderlust

Notable for its honesty. The Liverpool defender's published opinion that he is happier retired from international football prompted a media frenzy

—— Martin Pengelly , Guardian

One of the few current footballers worth an autobiography

—— Jonathan Ruppin , Bookseller

Amid the basketful of bland post-World Cup books, McGrath's life story stands out a mile... Fascinating reading.

—— Evening Standard

The Republic of Ireland's most popular sportsman, still adored by fans of Manchester United and Villa.

—— BBC Sport

An all-too honest account of a playing career that just got better and better, despite threatening to go off the rails.

—— Sunday Mercury

An extraordinary book.

—— Irish Independent

Harrowing and brutally honest...a gripping story.

—— Derby Evening Telegraph

Brutally honest.

—— The Irish Post

Less a football autobiography, more repentant confessional.

—— Kevin Hughes , FreeSport

stunning

—— FourFourTwo

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